Northrup Falls

Walk

STORY BY BRACKEN MAYO

BY SARAH MAYO

of Tennessee leads a group of outdoorspeople up the Cumberland Plateau to the uppereastern edge of Middle Tennessee.

Northrup Falls plunges 60 feet into its rocky pool within the Colditz Cove State Natural Area, near the small town of Allardt, Tennessee, north of Monterey (which does indeed translate as “Mountain King”) and Crossville. A bit of a drive from Murfreesboro, the site sits about 115 miles outside of Murfreesboro to the east-northeast.

The Northrup Falls feature itself is quite spectacular—visitors can walk behind, or directly under, the falls, which reportedly pours quite a high volume of waterflow at most times, for a Tennessee creek.

As a whole, the natural area feels secluded and contains an interesting variety of terrain and plant life.

Judging from the small parking area, the site does not accommodate a huge number of visitors.

From the parking area, a natural-surface trail begins the journey to the waterfall, starting fairly level.

Soon, the trail leads to a 1.4-mile loop which takes hikers to the base of Northrup Falls. Either direction will lead to the falls, eventually. Going right will soon lead to an overlook permitting hikers to view the impressive Northrup Falls from above. Visitors can approach the edge of a steep bluff with the falls just to the right, surrounded by rocky crags.

It’s a cool view, looking down upon those below getting wet in the spray of the falls.

The trail then leads to a small bridge that crosses over Big Branch Creek just above the falls. The Northrup family operated a mill near here in the 1800s. From here, the work begins to descend into the basin.

Go on down!

The descent can get just a little challenging at points, with the ground soupy and slick after only a moderate rainfall the day before (carrying a 36-pound person makes it all the more challenging). Prior to arriving at Northrup Falls the trail requires some ducking under rhododendron branches, navigating the rocky terrain near a cliff face, and various other ups and downs, twists and turns, loose rocks and wet and muddy spots to traverse.

But arriving to Northrup Falls and standing at the base presents a beautiful scene as the water roars onto the rocks, the creek falling from a protruding rock ledge which creates a cave formation behind the falls large enough to pass behind the falls without getting wet.

The plunge pool below the falls is not large enough for swimming but makes a fine spot to wade and splash around.

Hang out for a while and enjoy this unique spot before making the excursion back via the remainder of the loop and continuing to hike through this lovely piece of forest, home to several relatively rare animals including the Black Mountain dusky salamander, the woodland jumping mouse, the smoky shrew, the pygmy shrew and the southeastern shrew, according to information from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

And of course the 165 acres of the Colditz Cove Natural Area contain a wide variety of ferns, flowers, trees, grasses, sedges and rushes.

Below the falls, along the creek, “large hemlocks and white pines dominate the forest canopy and probably are more than 200 years old,” state literature says.

Further, the “high cliffs and shallow, open cave-like structures at the falls and along the creek gorge were once used by cliff-dwelling Woodland Indians over 3,000 years ago. They primarily used these shelters during hunting season,” according to TDEC.